Miller was a star in both track and football at DeSoto High School, but some college football recruiters were concerned about his relatively small size for a defensive lineman of 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 metres) and 212 pounds (96.2 kg). An assistant coach at Texas A&M University was taken by Miller’s speed and athleticism, however, and offered him a scholarship. Miller started slowly at Texas A&M, notching just five and a half total sacks in his first two years on the field. He broke out during his junior season, leading the country in sacks with 17 and compiling 21.5 tackles for a loss (TFL). He racked up 10.5 sacks and 17.5 TFL in his senior year, which ended with his receiving consensus All-American honours and the Dick Butkus Award (as the nation’s top linebacker). He was then selected by the Broncos with the second overall pick of the 2011 NFL draft.

Miller made an immediate impact in his first year as a professional. Having grown into his frame during his time at Texas A&M, Miller was a near-perfect combination of size, speed, and agility, and he grounded opposing quarterbacks for a total of 11.5 sacks during his rookie campaign, securing the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and his first invitation to the Pro Bowl. He bettered his rookie statistics during his second season, with 18.5 sacks and his first career interception (which he returned for his first career touchdown), earning both Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honours. He was limited to just nine games in the 2013 season, owing to a six-game suspension for trying to cheat a drug test and a season-ending tear in his anterior cruciate ligament that kept him out of the Super Bowl (which Denver lost to the Seattle Seahawks). He quickly recovered from those setbacks, however, and during the following two seasons he amassed 14 and 11 sacks, respectively, establishing himself as one of the premier defensive players of his generation.

At the 2016 Super Bowl, Miller produced one of the greatest individual defensive efforts in the event’s history, recording two and a half sacks, forcing two fumbles (the first of which was recovered in the end zone for Denver’s opening touchdown), and continuously harassing the opposing Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, in Denver’s 24–10 victory. Miller’s performance—for which he was named the game’s MVP—showed that he could emerge as the Broncos’ star of the future in the wake of the impending departure of the team’s legendary quarterback, Peyton Manning. During the following season, Miller tallied 13.5 sacks and was again named an All-Pro, but the Broncos missed the playoffs with a 9–7 record. Despite Miller’s continued great play in 2017 (he led the Broncos with 10 sacks), Denver’s quarterback struggles resulted in a last-place divisional finish. He was named to his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl during a 2018 season in which he had 14.5 sacks, but the Broncos again finished the year with a losing record.

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